Aam Aadmi Party controls Congress, says Rohan Gupta who left Congress and joined BJP

May 05, 2024

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], May 5 : Rohan Gupta, former Congress spokesperson who is now a BJP leader, said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) controls the Congress party and will go against the grand old party as soon as the Lok Sabha election concludes.
"When I resigned from the party, this was a major issue. Congress is in a bad condition in Gujarat because the AAP took 10-12 per cent of their votes. Still, the advisors of the Congress don't understand that the more they push AAP, the more the Congress goes lower. The AAP will be against Congress as soon as the election concludes. The liquor case in which the Congress protested against the AAP is now in alliance with AAP. The AAP controls the Congress party," Gupta told ANI.
Gupta further added, "Congress does not listen to the workers... The workers who protested against the AAP are now asked to ask for votes for AAP after the alliance. With what face will the workers go between the public?... Ideology can be compromised but only upto a limit... Face-saving is not possible for a party worker, socially or politically."
Gupta's remark came after former Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh Lovely said the AAP has more control over Congress.
After joining the BJP, Arvinder Singh Lovely said, "It has been a week since I resigned from the post of Congress party president but that party (Congress) did not pay heed to any of my words, on the contrary, allegations and counter-allegations were made against me...Then we decided that we do not have to sit at home, we have to work for this country...It (Congress) has become AAP party. AAP has more control over Congress."
Rohan Gupta accused Rahul Gandhi's advisors of hindering feedback from grassroots-level members, causing a communication gap that resulted in 99 per cent of Congress leaders resigning.
Rohan Gupta also accused Rahul Gandhi's advisors of prioritising their own interests, such as retaining their Rajya Sabha seat and bungalow, over the well-being of the Congress party.
"The advisors around Rahul Gandhi have decided that he should not get the grassroots feedback. For the 99 per cent of leaders that left Congress, there was a communication problem, they were not able to give their feedback. Rahul Gandhi got wrong feedback about them. This happened in the last 2-3 years. These people (advisors) have a leftist ideology and they don't think about the Congress party. They only think of their Rajya Sabha seat and their bungalow...
He claimed that Rahul Gandhi's advisors suppressed Priyanka Gandhi's voice, who should have been the first choice for the Raebareli Lok Sabha seat.
"The advisors are talking about Bharat Jodo but they believe in 'Neta todo, aur apni Rajneeti jodo'... These people suppressed Priyanka Gandhi's voice... Her name should have been the first for Raebareli... She campaigns everywhere, does she not have the right to go to Rajya Sabha or contest Lok Sabha?.. The voice of the workers regarding Ram Temple, Sanatana and AAP has been crushed... The reaction from the ground will come in the form of revolt on June 4," he said.
Gupta stated that Congress should have decided the candidates for Amethi and Rae Bareli from the beginning, and fielded Priyanka from Rae Bareli and Rahul Gandhi from Amethi.
"Raebareli and Amethi have blessed the Congress and Gandhi family for years. The strategy for these two seats should have been a priority for Congress. When Sonia Gandhi was not in Raebareli, KL Sharma was only concentrating on Raebareli. He was not involved in Amethi in 2019 but he was announced as a candidate at the last moment, fearing defeat... Amethi stood with Gandhi family for 31 years, they should not have left Amethi if it did not bless them for 5 years... The candidates for Amethi and Raebareli should have been decided on day 1... The correct decision would have been that Priyanka should have contested from Raebareli and Rahul Gandhi from Amethi."
The Congress, on May 3, announced Rahul as a candidate from Raebareli and loyalist KL Sharma from Amethi, keeping Priyanka out of the electoral contest.
Sharma is pitted against Union Minister Smriti Irani, who trounced Rahul in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The Amethi seat has been represented by Rahul since 2004, and he remained a member of Parliament from the constituency until 2019. His father and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, too, was an elected member of Amethi in the Lower House from 1981 till his death in 1991.
Sonia Gandhi contested and won Amethi in 1999 before passing the baton on to Rahul in 2004.